New Year's Resolutions

Dear all,

It's January and so after all the christmas feasting a lot of us are working on our new year's resolution(s) to live better/healthier, and that includes myself! So not a lot of cake baking has been going on lately. I've mostly been making a lot of different soups and breads, but so far nothing worth sharing with you (visually not very spectacular you see - though all incredibly tasty!). But this week I tried something I should have done a long time ago: pita breads. Specifically wholemeal ones. I love love love the M&S wholemeal pita's but they aren't readily available to me here (yet) so I thought I'd try making them myself. Revelation!! So easy, so tasty!

They go perfectly with my soups, or with salady type filling for dinner. Happy New (healthy) Year everyone!

xoxo Jennifer

ps. Don't worry, I'm sure more cakes and bakes will follow soon.

Merry Christmas!!

Dear all,

For the final post of this year I would like to share (some) of my christmas bakes with you. Enjoy, and a merry christmas to you all!

Xoxo Jennifer

Experimental Persimmon cake

Dear all,

As part of a little experiment I chose to make a cake this week without adding sugar. I bought some persimmons at the market that turned out to be rather overripe when I got home. These were super sweet, so I figured I wouldn't need to add sugar if I added enough of the fruit.

I thought wrong. I puréed 2/3 of the fruit  and chopped up the rest to add to the cake. I also some freshly squeezed orange juice as the cake needed a little extra moisture.


Asides from the fruit(juice) I also added walnuts. And below you see the results.


Although the general texture of the cake was good it wasn't even remotely sweet! Even the chunks of persimmon seemed to have lost their sweetness. Also, while in my experimental phase I decided to use vegetable oil rather than butter - maybe next time I should check what a good ratio would be, as the cake also tasted rather of... vegetable oil!


All in all however not a total disaster. The cake was, let's say, different, but we didn't enjoy it any less. Served with my friend's sugar free hot chocolate (with real vanilla and a dash of cayenne pepper - fantastic!) it can still be called a success I think.

I want to try experimenting more, see what happens. So stay tuned!

xoxo Jennifer

Fondant chocolate cake

Dear all,

This week I would like to share something that a friend made, as it was just SO delicious and perfectly executed. So kudos to my friend Maaike for making the most fantastic chocolate fondant 'lava' cakes for my graduation party. Now tell me these pics don't make your mouth water!!

These absolutely gorgeous chocolate fondant cakes were served with a bit of whipped cream, raspberries and some fresh sprigs of mint. SO yummy.

Thanks again Maaike for these fantastic cakes - you're welcome to make these again anytime!

xoxo Jennifer

Pear cake

Dear all,

I recently found myself facing a huge pile of ripe pears from the market - perfect for making a cake!

This cake had bits of pear mixed in as well as on top. For added texture I added ground hazelnuts.


For extra shine I brushed over some warm apricot jam. Never tried that before, works well!


The only thing not visible (there was no time for pictures while devouring this cake!) was the extra special surprise: dark chocolate chunks. Not many, but enough for a pleasant surprise while sampling this delicious pear cake. Worth making again!

xoxo Jennifer

Courgette bread and Sweet potato and Parsnip soup

Dear all,

It's not just baking, it's cooking and experimenting with food in general that I like. This week I would like to share the courgette and mushroom bread I made with sweet potato and parsnip soup. Because I can! Ha!

So this required grating the courgettes, salting them, draining the water, rinsing them, and then squeezing them until no more liquid came out. Lot of work! Add mushrooms and garlic, and hey presto.

The bread was lovely and moist, and stayed moist for several days because of the courgettes. And the sweet potato, parsnip and carrot soup was quite sweet, but could be deliciously offset with some bacon bits (not pictured).


And would you look at that, I seem to have all the same ingredients in my fridge again - time to bake/cook!

xoxo Jennifer

Carrot CupCakes

Dear all,

Sometimes you need to use a trusted recipe and do something 'new' with it. I say 'new' because of course this is not an original idea, just new for me! So, carrot cake cupcakes. In pretty wrapping/boxes. Enjoy!





xoxo Jennifer